Ancient Greece - Page Text Content

3: Table of Contents 4-5...................In The Beginning 6-9................................Government 10-11....................................Religion 12-17.........................Social Classes 18-19.................Lay Of The Land 20-21..........................To Sum It Up 22..........................................Glossary 23.................................................Index 24.............................Bibliography

4: In The Beginning | Ancient Greece began its rise to glory around 800 BC. It developed from series of small settlements that eventually became small city-states on the coast of Aegean Sea. They wanted to expand to get better farming land.

5: The city-states developed from small villages that were forced to work together to grow food and trade with other nations. They also had to band together and help each other fight off bandits and armies that wanted to take over. | Here is a picture of the five major city-states of Ancient Greece.

6: The Government | All through out Ancient Greece most of the city-states did not even have the same type of government. This is because their are so many different city-states. In the beginning of Ancient Greece most Greek law was under a monarchy (a king or queen) what they said, went. Although after the Early Bronze Age, (also called the Dark Age) a famous philosopher named Aristotle divided the Greek government into five main groups. Monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies.

7: After the Dark Age most Greek government was under an oligarchy or a tyranny. Oligarchies are a group of aristocrats (rich men) who tell everyone else what to do. Then in the 600s and 500s BC a lot of city-states were taken over by tyrants. Tyrants were usually one of the aristocrats who got power over the others by getting the support of the poor people. They ruled kind of like kings, but without any legal right to rule.

8: In Ancient Greece you could find no two city-states alike. Although, none were quite as opposite than Athens and Sparta. Sparta's government was still set in its ways with a monarchy, but the special thing about Sparta was that they had two kings. The two kings were usually brothers or cousins. The Spartans had a love for war and they had two kings because one would go off to war and the other would stay home to manage the city. Sparta also loved extreme punishments so if much wrong you were put to death.

9: Athens was so modern and civilized that they created the very first democratic government. This means that they actually let the people of Athens vote for their leaders. As you can see this is just like the United States of America. This also effected the laws that were held. Athens put criminals before a jury of 200 or more citizens picked at random. Criminals were punished by fines, their right to vote taken away, exile or death. Imprisonment was not used as a punishment.

10: Religion | The Greeks if anything were polytheists. Polytheists are people who believe in many gods and the Greeks had tons. | Zeus | Hera

11: They had the twelve main Olympians who lived on top of Mount Olympus. That is not even including all of the minor gods and goddesses. | Posiedon | Hades

12: Social Classes | The best defined social classes are found in the center of Greek art, literature, philosophy and learning... Athens! Athens had an upper class. Right below this class were the Metics, or the middle class. The next class was the freemen, and at the very bottom were the slaves. To be a member of the upper class in Athens you must be a citizen, and you can not have a job. A member of the upper class must be free from normal tasks such as trading. He must get slaves or others to attend to his earthly concerns such as his property and fortune; only by such freedom can he find time for government, war, literature, and philosophy.

13: The middle class of Athens had a large number of non citizens. The free men (non-slaves) of foreign birth, though they could not become citizens, they had spent their life in Athens. They were mostly regular men: merchants, contractors, manufacturers, managers, tradesmen, craftsmen, and artists. The lower class was mostly made up of freedmen, who at one time in their lives had been slaves. Most of the time these people were not citizens of Athens, so the best they could ever be is the lower class. This was mostly made up of freed men, who at one time in their lives had been slaves.

14: A slave can gain his or her freedom. The slave may be freed by his or her ransom being paid off by a relative or friend. If a slave ever earns enough money he can buy his own freedom, which is difficult because slaves do not get paid for their services. He or she would have to work at a second job. If a slave fights in a war there is a chance that he will be released. And two of the more common ways to acquire freedom, are for the master to die, or if the master feels the job the slave was bought for has been completed.

15: If a slave was bought in order to tutor a child through school, upon the child's graduation, it's more than likely that the slave will be set free. The slaves of Athens were unransomed prisoners of war, victims of slave raids, infants rescued from the streets, and criminals. Only a very small number of slaves were Greek, the rest were considered barbarians because they were from a different place. The cost of a slave ranged from 50 to 1,000 dollars. Even fairly poor citizens often had a slave or two, while a rich home could have as many as fifty.

16: The Athenian government employed a number of public slaves as clerks, attendants, minor officials, or policemen. Many slaves were women who worked in the home. If a slave misbehaves he is whipped; when he is hit in the face by a person whose rank is higher than a slave, the slave must not defend himself. If a slave were going to testify in court, he or she could only testify legally under torture, to make sure the slave told the truth. In no case can a citizen legally go as far as to kill his slave.

17: Owners were often kind to their slaves, but other slaves were very badly treated. In these earlier times slavery was legal, but not all people agreed with it. One famous philosopher even said, "God has sent all men into the world free, and nature has made no man a slave, but slavery goes on."

18: Lay Of the Land | Much of Greece is mountainous and has rocky terrain, with the occasional plain. The Pindus Mountains start in northern Greece and stretch south to the Gulf of Patra. In the southern part of Greece are the Peloponnesus Mountains. The land within Greece is not very productive for farming. The Greeks have struggled to build a strong economy. The standard of living in Greece is lower than other European countries.

19: About one fifth of Greece is made up of islands. Crete is a large island located in the Mediterranean Sea. It is a popular tourist area for its beautiful mountains, coastline, and many ancient ruins.

20: To Sum It Up | To sum it all up, Greece was not a very fun place to live in. It was work, work and more work. Not to mention that you had to honor and fear your gods at the same time. Have you ever noticed how much we got from Ancient Greece? Look at the Lincoln Memorial. It built just like the Greek Pantheon. Look around see what you can find from Ancient Greece!

22: Glossary | Parthenon: A temple of Athens built in honor of Artemis City-State: A state consisting of a sovereign city and its dependencies. Among the most famous are the great independent cities of the ancient world, such as Athens, Sparta, Carthage, Thebes, Corinth, and Rome. Jury: A group of persons sworn to render a verdict or true answer on a question or questions officially submitted to them.